The present invention relates generally to data delivery networks, and more particularly to environmental delivery networks.
Ever since methods of transmitting information have been invented, people have been trying to transmit information in a way to capture, transmit and reproduce an experience. In the infancy of data transmission, the telegraph allowed signals to be transmitted as series of long and short tones that represented letters and numbers. The telegraph facilitated the communication of words. However, this type of communication required skilled workers to key and interpret the signals. The telephone overcame some of the deficiencies of the telegraph and provided a method of transmitting and receiving audio signals, specifically human speech. The telephone allowed users to communicate orally with one another other over great distances. The telephone also more closely reproduced the captured information in its original form (i.e. voice was captured, transmitted, and reproduced at another location). Over time, methods of capturing, transmitting, and reproducing visual images as well as sound were developed and television became the new standard of transmitting information to the masses. All of these methods of transmission comprise steps along a path that leads to the capture, transmission, and reproduction of an environment in which a user may experience not only video and audio but other sensory stimuli such as taste, smell, and temperature as well. The transmission of data representing an environment presents numerous problems because the amount of data required to be transmitted is large and data is often lost during the transmission process.